Mumbai Events

Kala Ghoda Bazaar

For three months, between November and January each year, street
musicians and performers of all kinds add to the colourful
atmosphere of Mumbai's Sunday street bazaars, held near the
Jehangir Art Gallery in the city's pedestrian plaza. The area
becomes a hive of activity and excitement between November and
January, with cultural performances and stalls selling a variety of
crafts, folk art and food, but the stretch has become such a hub of
cultural and artistic activity that it is now known as an art
precinct all year round. The Kala Ghoda Art Precinct stretches from
Regal Circle at the southern end of Mahatma Gandhi Road, to Mumbai
University, which is further north on the same street. The
attractions along this stretch include the Mumbai National Gallery
of Modern Art, the Prince of Wales Museum, the Jehanqir Art
Gallery, the Kala Ghoda Pavement Gallery (where talented young
artists exhibit their work on railings set up along the pavement),
the Museum Gallery, and Rampart Row (a restored heritage building
packed with stores and restaurants). The area also boasts some of
the city's most popular restaurants and is a great place to go
shopping and eating-out.

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi or Ganesh Utsav celebrates the birthday of
Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of wisdom and prosperity.
Celebrations are held throughout India and this is one of the
highlights of the year for tourists visiting the country. In
communities all over India, life-like clay models of Lord Ganesha
are made a few months prior to the festival and during the build-up
to his birthday the statues are placed in elaborately decorated
tents, where the locals come to pay homage and leave gifts. For ten
days the statues - which vary in size from a few inches tall to
massive - are worshipped in this way until on the 11th day they are
carried in procession, accompanied by singing, dancing and general
merriment, to be ritually submerged in a nearby river or sea. The
huge procession in Mumbai, that culminates in the statue, or
, of Ganesha being submerged in the Arabian Sea at
Chowpatty Beach, is probably the largest and most famous of these
celebrations. The complex of tents set up around the huge model of
Ganesh in Mumbai host performances, craft and food stalls, free
health centres and all sorts of other entertainments to celebrate
the festival, which is a great favorite with locals and foreigners
alike.